Of course, all golf fans are melancholy as Masters Week is upon us with no action from Augusta National to watch. Similarly, daily-fantasy sports users and gamblers alike have a void to fill, as golf increases in popularity amongst that sect.
To help satisfy our appetite for golf action, FanDuel is announcing a simulated version of the Masters, which will award $10,000 in prizes based on a simulation starting on Thursday. The free contest will allow users to pick a lineup based on a salary, similar to the DFS site’s normal golf game, but there will be a variety of players in the pool. You’ll be able to pick from golf’s top stars, but you will also have to balance your lineup with some of golf’s legends, including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Payne Stewart and even the founder of the Masters Tournament, Bobby Jones. In addition, you can choose from one of golf’s leading movie characters—including Roy McAvoy, Judge Smails, Happy Gilmore and Shooter McGavin—to round out your lineup. There are even a few celebrity sticks, like Tony Romo and Stephen Curry, who will be part of the simulation. As you can see, the point of this is fun, but the results will be based on modeling from FanDuel’s sister site, numberFire, which will factor in a number of statistical and personal trends and characteristics.
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With the absence of sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, simulated eSports have become increasingly popular on DFS sites like FanDuel. And now golfers have their own version, based on the actual Masters, but also with the added fantasy element with fictional and historical players added to the mix. Since the contest went live earlier Monday, more than 18,000 users have already signed up.
Lineups will lock at Noon (eastern) on Thursday and action will be simulated each day. The first-place prize includes $500 in bonus cash, and FanDuel will pay out up to 38,400 spots. For more information and to sign up, click here.
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